This past Friday, Live Civil wason hand at the Intel International Science and EngineeringFair in Phoenix, Arizona. As some of you may have read and seen on our twitter page there were over 1500 students doing amazing things in the science fields and it was such a privilege to be a part of all the excitement. Now that the winner has been announced we’re even more proud that we got a chance to speak with the actual winner, Ionut Budisteanu before he was crowned!

Budisteanu, 19, of Romania was awarded first place for using artificial intelligence to create a viable model for a low-cost, self-driving car at this year’s Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, a program of Society for Science & the Public. Ionut’s research addresses a major global issue. With 3-D radar and mounted cameras, Ionut created a feasible design for an autonomously-controlled car that could detect traffic lanes and curbs, along with the real-time position of the car – and it would only cost $4,000. He received the Gordon E. Moore Award of $75,000, named in honor of the Intel co-founder and fellow scientist.

Congratulations Ionut, we’re keeping our eye on you and with a $71,000 price difference from Google’s, we’ll probably own one of your smart car driving systems ourselves!